1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic lumbar traction device which can be placed on the floor or any other horizontal surface, such as a table, and the user thereof can strap himself or herself to the device and then, by pumping a hand pump, can cause a lower pelvic traction belt strapped around the pelvic area to be pulled outwardly from a foot end of the device with a chest strap holding the user to an upper surface of the device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore various traction belts and traction devices have been proposed where a user can exert a stretching force on the lumbar area of the back. Examples of previously proposed traction belts and traction devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee ______________________________________ 3,960,146 Albrecht 4,073,290 Farrar, Jr. 4,099,523 Lowrey 4,135,503 Romano 4,356,816 Granberg 4,466,427 Granberg 4,508,109 Saunders Re. 32,791 Saunders 4,627,423 Kampner 4,641,637 Rosen 4,664,101 Granberg 4,995,378 Dyer et al. 5,052,378 Chitwood 5,115,802 Dyer 5,667,529 Butner ______________________________________
Furthermore, a Saunders lumbar traction device sold under the trademark STx.TM. applies force via a hand-held pump which causes the lower half of the device to glide over a friction-free surface with the lower half of the user's body moving with the lower half of the device.
The Albrecht U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,146, the Farrar, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,290, the Chitwood U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,378, and the Rosen U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,637 all disclose a traction belt with a lower strap for engaging an outer end of the piston or other mechanism for pulling the traction belt in a direction away from the torso of the person using the traction belt at a foot end of the device.
The Granberg U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,466,427 and 4,664,101 disclose a traction table for pelvic traction or cervical traction. The traction table utilizes a hydraulic system for a hydraulic piston cylinder located underneath the table.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the pneumatic lumbar traction device of the present invention differs from the various devices disclosed in the prior art patents and literature described above by providing an upper hollow shell part for supporting a user's body and having, on an upper surface thereof, Velcro.TM. patches for holding a chest strap to the upper part, and a lower part having a framework or plate with a centrally located, pneumatically operated, piston and cylinder mechanism having a piston rod which extends out of a foot end of the device and which is adapted to engage a T-bar which is connectable to a pelvic traction belt received around the user's pelvic area, a hand pump being provided for moving the piston in the cylinder to extend the piston rod while the chest strap fixed to an upper surface of the upper part holds the user to the device.